Co-pilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty) is at the helm of SouthJet Flight 227
from Orlando to Atlanta only because the plane’s captain, Whip Whitaker (Denzel
Washington), has passed out after a night of debauchery devoted to drinking
booze and snorting coke while carousing with one of his stewardesses (Nadine
Velazquez). But when the commercial airliner unexpectedly encounters severe
turbulence and starts losing altitude, the concerned rookie immediately rouses
the senior officer out of a deep sleep for assistance.

Despite a blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit, the veteran aviator
assumes control and quickly ascertains that the plane’s plunge is due to a
complete failure of the hydraulic system. He further surmises that the only hope
of pulling out of the precipitous nosedive depends upon his lowering the landing
gear prematurely, dumping fuel, and flying the aircraft upside-down.

Against all odds, he executes each step flawlessly, unless you count clipping
the top off a church steeple moments before making an emergency landing in an
open field. 96 of the 102 souls aboard survive, and Whip’s astonishing feat is
soon the subject of a national media circus, ala Sully Sullenberger’s real-life
Miracle on the Hudson.

However, in the course of conducting its routine investigation, the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) subsequently uncovers incriminating evidence
that the pilot had a blood alcohol level of .24 at the time of the accident. And
since a half-dozen people perished in the crash, Captain Whitaker could
conceivably be held criminally liable for their deaths.

Will the celebrated hero’s image be tarnished by scandal? Not if his defense
attorney (Don Cheadle) and union rep (Bruce Greenwood) have anything to say
about it. The two hatch a plan to suppress the toxicology report and to sober
Whip up by the time of the NTSB hearing.

Directed by Academy Award-winner Bob Zemeckis (for Forest Gump), Flight is a
riveting thriller marked by spellbinding special effects and a nonpareil
performance on the part of two-time Oscar-winner Denzel Washington (for Glory
and Training Day). After the spectacular, stomach-churning, opening scene plane
crash, the picture shifts in tone to a character-driven portrait of a
self-destructive addict in denial and plagued by demons.

The capable supporting cast features Kelly Reilly as Whip’s love interest, John
Goodman as his drug dealer, Melissa Leo as a snoopy NTSB bureaucrat, as well as
Don Cheadle and Bruce Greenwood. But make no mistake, this is as much a star
vehicle as Zemeckis’ Cast Away, where Tom Hanks was the only actor on screen for
over an hour.

An instant screen classic destined to be deemed among the very best of Zemeckis,
alongside Gump, Back to the Future and What Lies Beneath.